blog: 2021 in review post
Anirudh Oppiliappan x@icyphox.sh
Mon, 10 Jan 2022 22:08:06 +0530
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-title: icyphox's blog +title: icyphox # note the trailing slash! url: "https://icyphox.sh/" desc: "Computers, security and computer security."
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subtitle: About me. --- -![anirudh](https://x.icyphox.sh/9rUNl.jpeg) - -I'm Anirudh Oppiliappan, but you'll often find me as **icyphox** (or -just **icy**), on the Internet. +I'm Anirudh Oppiliappan, a doer of computery things. You'll often find +me as **icyphox** (or just **icy**), on the Internet. I work at +[Ory](https://ory.sh) as a Systems Reliability Engineer. ## contact@@ -19,9 +18,8 @@ ```
FE1B 8FCF E6C1 6222 F157 1C8E 8A93 F96F 78C5 D4C4 ``` -I generally always reply within the day. Alternative means of -communication, like my phone number, are only given out on a -need-to-know basis. +I'm also available on IRC as `icy` on [libera.chat](https://libera.chat) +and [rizon.net](https://rizon.net). Some of my links:@@ -30,7 +28,7 @@ - [Hacker News](https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=icy)
- [Steam](https://steamcommunity.com/id/icyphox) - [GitHub](https://github.com/icyphox) -The only social media I actively use is the fediverse: +The only social media I somewhat actively use is the fediverse: https://toot.icyphox.sh/@x If you're interested in **hiring me** -- here's my
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+--- +template: +slug: 2021-in-review +title: 2021 in review +subtitle: The post-year ramble is here, slightly late this time +date: 2022-01-10 +--- + +The last year was quite eventful to say the least, and I'd been putting +off on writing this retrospective simply because of the sheer number of +things that happened/I did, of varying levels of importance -- both to +you as a reader, and me as... well, the one who experienced them. + +I'll try to highlight the major ones here -- they're also the ones I'm +okay to discuss publicly, so there's that. As for the rest: they'll +serve as conversation fuel for 2022. + +## I graduated... barely + +After 4 long years, mostly "learning" about things that haven't been +used since like, my mom was born (I'm looking at you Intel 8086), I am +now a Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science and Engineering. I say +barely because I actually did pretty terribly. I'm still mildly +surprised that given my GPA, the degree certificate classifies it as a +"First Class". I think they just sorry for us lot. + +Was it a waste of time? A lot of the coursework, sadly, was. But my time +in college -- however little -- was actually quite fun. One thing's for +sure: I can't rewind time to see what would've happened had I _not_ done +the degree; but now I've done it, and here we are. Wherever that is. +Maybe it helped, maybe it didn't. Oh well. + +## my time at DeepSource + +This time last year (January 2021), I joined +[DeepSource](https://deepsource.io) as a Security Engineer (SRE on +paper). Suffice to say, I had an excellent time there, working with some +equally excellent people. I got to touch a whole bunch of systems: +ranging from observability pipelines, mesh networks in Kubernetes, +cloud-native security, and some more Kubernetes. + +Oh, and here are a few pictures from our trip to the Maldives.[^1] + +![maldives 1](https://x.icyphox.sh/FX~bI.jpg) +![maldives 2](https://x.icyphox.sh/DMHDG.jpg) + +[^1]: If you're in Bangalore and are looking for work, definitely + consider [applying to DeepSource](https://careers.deepsource.io)! + +In December 2021, I decided to leave DeepSource in favor of other +opportunities. I must say, I will deeply miss my equity when DeepSource +eventually becomes a unicorn -- and I'm confident they will! As for the +other opportunities, I will write about that in a future post. This is a +_retrospective_ after all.[^2] + +[^2]: There are hints... in various places... + +## projects and hacks + +Probably my biggest and most fun project this year was +[forlater.email](https://forlater.email). Both the site, and its +[technical breakdown](/blog/building-forlater) frontpaged on Hacker News +and was pretty well received. In hindsight, I should've included some +kind of payment model, but at the same time, being flexible enough to +accomodate those that can't afford to pay. And the code is shit. I'll +probably rewrite it. Eventually.[^3] + +[^3]: Sure, lol. + +My attempt at running [Kubernetes at home](/blog/k8s-at-home), while +being super fun, failed miserably. I learnt a ton from it however, and I +have no regrets. Setting up a Wireguard mesh manually, bootstrapping a +cluster using `kubeadm`, multi-arch considerations, etc. I do sorely +miss the declarative-ness of it all, I must say. + +Besides these, I don't think I spent any serious amount of time on +anything else. Other than, of course, work projects. + +## this site + +As is tradition, let's talk about this site and the blog. There have +been some minor visual changes but I think it's largely stayed the same. +I've found the aesthetic I like -- at least for now. + +I've re-added the [reading](/reading) page to publicly track books that +I've read. More on that in a bit. + +As for blog posts this year, let's see: + +```console +$ grep 'date: 2021' pages/blog/*.md | wc -l + 13 +``` + +Only 13! That's about 1 a month, and the lowest count per year so far. +I'll attribute this to me dedicating more time to work, i.e. I've become +a wagie cagie. Make of that what you will. That said, I think the +quality of posts has considerably increased. I think. + +## other stuff + +I couldn't think of an appropriate heading for this section so "other +stuff" it is: a catch-all category for general life-ey things. + +I read a grand-total of 9 books last year -- not particularly good. I'd +like to at least double that this year. Some of my favourite reads were: +_Dune_, _The Hero of Ages_, _The Enemy_ and _Permanent Record_. Big +thanks to [Vishesh](https://awalvie.me) for _Dune_ and +[Vishnu](https://twitter.com/thebluefowl) for _Permanent Record_! + +Language learning took an unfortunate hit, with basically zero progress +in Russian. I did study it for a month or two in early 2021, but I won't +count it for I've likely forgotten it all. I hope to restart where I +left off, this year -- hopefully with the help of my new [productivity +hacks](/blog/bujo) (which has been working wonders, by the way!). + +I had roughly about 6 - 7 months of time to hit the gym, i.e. when the +gym wasn't closed off, and I managed to get some swole on. As of this +writing, it's the "third wave" of COVID-19 and the gym's closed. Again. + +In other somewhat big news: I switched to an iPhone 13 mini. This +probably warrants its own big post -- one full of copes and hopes. I +will have to mull over it a bit to fully articulate my thoughts. I have +a few other post ideas as well -- many that I planned on writing last +year but never got around to. I often consider writing commentary on +`$TECH_OUTRAGE_DU_JOUR` but everything that I want to say has usually +already been said. I'm sure there'll be plenty of stuff I can be the +_first_ to comment on in 2022. + +And speaking of 2022... + +## 2022 might be big + +This might be a big year for me, with some potentially huge life +updates. New job, new adventures, the works. I'm looking forward to it. +2021 was super eventful; 2022 just might top it. + +Here's a list of things I'm looking forward to this year: + +- Formula 1: New regulations! Williams back on top? Who knows?! +- New albums: Oceans Ate Alaska, I See Stars (one can hope!), Invent + Animate. +- Travel. +- Reading _The Wheel of Time_ series. + +I'm going to close off this rambly post with a big thanks to everyone who's +supporting forlater.email -- it made my whole last year. Maybe this year +too. And you just might see another micro-SaaS from me! + +I'll see you soon.
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} main { - font-family: "Charter", "Georgia", "Noto Serif", serif; + font-family: "San Francisco", "Inter", "Roboto", sans-serif; font-size: 18px; padding: 0; line-height: 160%;@@ -164,6 +164,7 @@ }
.post-date { color: var(--gray); + text-transform: lowercase; } table {@@ -174,6 +175,7 @@ .index-date {
white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--gray); + text-transform: lowercase; } .index-post {@@ -194,9 +196,6 @@ footer {
padding-top: 30px; } -.post-date { - color: var(--gray); -} blockquote { margin: 7px 0 7px 0;
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